We visited the property several times and came to love it. It is 24 minutes from work for me. It is almost the 5 acres that we wanted. And it isn’t crazy narrow like a lot of the other properties are that we looked at. 10 acres isn’t so great when it’s 160′ wide and 1200′ deep. What are we supposed to do with a backyard that is 1000′ deep if it’s that narrow? This one is a perfect rectangle.
One significant downside of the property in the listing is the utilities. It is listed with only electric available. I was really hoping for natural gas at least. For a house the size of what we need, in our area propane is going to be really expensive. Also a significant challenge is the lack of sewer and water. I’m talking about building a lot of bedrooms, so a septic system will be massive. And then how does that work for multi-family?
I started calling around to get information from utilities to find out how close they were. Gas was pretty simple, on a drive down the road, the houses across the street clearly have gas meters. An email to the gas company confirmed that there is natural gas available, despite it not being in the listing.
The same goes for cable. I looked up some addresses with the cable company and there appear to be existing accounts at some of those addresses, so cable is available.
Not so lucky with sewer and water. I obtained the map of those utilities from the dept of public works, and sewer and water are limited to the main road to the south, at the far end of the adjacent parcel. Too far to get access and apparently no room for egress.
So we’re looking at a property with some utilities, but needing septic and a well.
My next call was to the county health dept to talk about septic systems. The soil is good, so that’s good news, but the size is going to be an issue. A commercial unit would be required if I was going to put in one system for all the units, and the costs would, “Skyrocket” according to him. He suggested a better bet would be to put in one very large residential unit for us, and then add smaller systems for the units as we go. This will be expensive, but not prohibitive. So that’s a good thing.
With all of this information in hand, we decided this is the property for us. The utility situation isn’t perfect, and it will be expensive, but this is the property where we can do what we need to do. So we set our minds to making this work.
A couple of weeks ago I was driving past with my daughter in the car, and she hadn’t seen the property yet. So I suggested we drive past and take a look. Every time I bring one of the kids to see it they get excited about it, and I do too.
On this day we drove past the property and then parked on the street. The parcel is completely wooded, but on the northernmost edge there is a dirt path that runs East and West between the woods of our lot and the woods on the adjacent lot. I hadn’t walked that path yet, so I suggested that we take a few minutes and walk it.
As we walked, I was trying to gauge about how far halfway back would be, because halfway along the path would be about the rear property line for the parcel. We reached the spot where I estimate the property line to be, and I stopped to look over it. I suggested we should head back to the car, but instead my daughter walked another maybe 10 feet further and said, “Hey, what’s that?” She pointed at the ground. I walked toward her, and this is what I saw in the middle of this dirt path in the middle of the woods:
Um… what exactly is that doing here? I’ve seen the city utility map, there is no sewer anywhere near here. Did a kid steal a manhole cover and ditch it in the woods? Doesn’t look like it.
I marked the spot on a map and emailed the guy from DPW who had sent me the utility map. I sent him the photo and my map of the location and asked why there is a manhole cover in the middle of the woods?
He sent somebody out to check on it and emailed me back, yep sure enough there is a sewer main there, right on the northern edge of our property. It wasn’t on his map, he had no idea it was there!
So now this property that started as having only electric available, now has gas, cable, and sewer! This property that I wasn’t sure I would like the location, that I wasn’t sure had the right utilities, now all of those concerns are being answered. I’m willing to bet there is water somewhere too. I just need to find it!
I told my daughter she could have found a suitcase buried with $20,000 in cash, and it would not be more valuable than what she found buried in the ground that day.
It’s just one more way I think God is providing. There are still lots of questions to answer, but the picture gets just a little clearer the more we learn.
And by the way there is no part 4, this is the end of the property story.
For now:)